Publications

September 2021
Teaching Note

CPE and SUS Environmental: You've Got to Know When to Hold 'Em (A) and (B)

By: Josh Lerner

Keywords: Venture Capital; Private Equity

01 Oct 2000
News

surprising that the venture capital industry was essentially dormant at the time. But with the growth of the microprocessor and of biotechnology in the late 1970s, as well as the deregulation of the airline... View Details

July 2021
Case

Bessemer Venture Partners: Century Fund

By: Jo Tango and Alys Ferragamo

In July of 2021, Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP) contemplated the future of its growth investing practice, known as “Century.” While still relatively new as a focused initiative, BVP’s growth investing already had significant momentum. The fund’s investment pace had... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Financial Institutions; Growth and Development Strategy; Investment Banking; Competitive Strategy; Public Sector; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Acquisition

September 2000 (Revised March 2001)
Background Note

Note on Corporate Venture Capital, A

By: Josh Lerner

Provides an overview of corporate venture investment. View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Business Startups; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Financial Services Industry

10 May 2004
Research & Ideas

Rethink the Value of Joint Ventures

mobilizing capital and tax planning globally and this can come at the expense of the local partner. Imagine the conflicting objectives in trying to put a price on a component purchased by the joint venture... View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia Churchwell

May 2025
Teaching Note

Clay Ridge Capital

By: William R. Kerr and Martin A. Sinozich

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 823-089. Kel Jackson, with the support of his young family, has been searching for a manufacturing business to purchase. After a long process, Kel had submitted a written offer to buy Sheetfab that matched his original conversation with... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Entrepreneurship; Negotiation Offer; Manufacturing Industry

17 Sep 2018
Blog Post

My Summer as a Venture Capitalist

This summer I had the opportunity to intern at a venture firm based in Boston called Underscore. Their approach during the interview process really stood out to me and set me up for a summer where I was able to make an impact. What do you... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital / Private Equity

August 2022 (Revised November 2022)
Supplement

Altos Ventures (B)

By: Jo Tango and Alys Ferragamo

In December 2021, Han Kim, Anthony Lee, and Ho Nam reflected on how far they had come since 2012. This B case provides an update on Altos Ventures’ decision-making and performance since the events presented in the A case. View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Venture Capital; Investment Portfolio; Partners and Partnerships

February 2009
Case

Avid Radiopharmaceuticals: The Venture Debt Question

By: Matthew Rhodes-Kropf and Ann Leamon

The CEO of a promising biotech company must decide how to respond to the macro-economic slump of late 2008. He had planned to pursue an aggressive schedule, moving the firm's Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease imaging compounds through clinical trials and into the... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Entrepreneurship; Borrowing and Debt; Venture Capital; Financial Management; Investment; Health Testing and Trials; Expansion; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

March 2000
Background Note

Venture Capitalist as Entrepreneur, The

By: Robert J. Robinson and Noam T. Wasserman

Introduces students to negotiations between venture capitalists (VCs) and the limited partners who provide the VCs' capital. Also discusses negotiations between VCs and other VCs, including those within a VC firm itself. Explores interests, sources of negotiating... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Venture Capital; Capital; Negotiation Tactics; Entrepreneurship; Financial Services Industry

August 2001 (Revised April 2002)
Case

Strategic Capital Management, LLC (A)

By: Mark L. Mitchell, Erik Stafford and Todd Pulvino

Strategic Capital Management, LLC, is a hedge fund that is planning to make financial investments in Creative Computers and Ubid. Creative Computers recently sold approximately 20% of its Internet auction subsidiary, Ubid, to the public at $15 per share. Ubid's stock... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Business Subsidiaries; Internet and the Web; Investment Funds; Price; Performance Efficiency; Capital Markets; Auctions; Investment Return; Equity; Planning; Financial Services Industry

September 2012 (Revised January 2013)
Case

Martin Smith: July 2012

By: Josh Lerner and Felda Hardymon

Martin Smith, a recently hired general partner at a Brazil-based venture capital firm, must decide among three deal opportunities. Each has different strengths (management, market, and technology) but each has its own weaknesses as well. He must also consider each deal... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Deal Choice; Venture Capital; Investments; Career Management; Management Teams; Decision Choices and Conditions; Cost vs Benefits; Personal Development and Career; Financial Services Industry; Brazil

Working Paper

How Do Venture Capitalists Make Decisions?

By: Paul A. Gompers, William Gornall, Steven N. Kaplan and Ilya A. Strebulaev

We survey 885 institutional venture capitalists (VCs) at 681 firms to learn how they make decisions across eight areas: deal sourcing, investment selection, valuation, deal structure, post-investment value-added, exits, internal firm organization, and relationships... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Decision Choices and Conditions

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29 Sep 2022
News

Minority-Owned Managers in PE and Venture Capital Face Barriers in Raising Their First Funds. Researchers Explore Why.

May 2024
Supplement

Forest Park Capital (A)

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

During the Covid-19 Pandemic in 2020, Betsy Harbison formed the search fund Forest Park Capital with the intention of purchasing a small business. The case conveys the details of Betsy’s final decision at the terminus of her search, between a software company... View Details

Keywords: Search Fund; Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition; Acquisition; Small Business; Cost vs Benefits; Decisions; Business Education; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Leadership Style; Business or Company Management; Problems and Challenges; Tourism Industry; Web Services Industry; North America; Missouri

March 2002 (Revised December 2002)
Background Note

A Note on Corporate Venturing and New Business Creation

By: David A. Garvin

Presents an introduction and overview of corporate venturing. Describes the need for companies to create new businesses, the stages in the process, predictable problems and challenges, the strengths and weaknesses of alternative approaches such as internal venture... View Details

Keywords: Business Plan; Business Startups; Forecasting and Prediction; Venture Capital; Problems and Challenges

2003
Simulation

VC Game: A massive multi player simulation of a venture capital market used to teach portfolio management

By: G. Felda Hardymon

Keywords: Venture Capital

2012
Book

Venture Capital, Private Equity, and the Financing of Entrepreneurship

By: Josh Lerner, Ann Leamon and Felda Hardymon

Venture Capital, Private Equity, and the Financing of Entrepreneurship stems from a realization that private equity overall—defined in this volume as venture capital and buyouts but excluding hedge funds—has become a vastly more sizable and influential part of the... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Private Equity; Financing and Loans; Entrepreneurship

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